MORGANTOWN — Things didn’t go so well for the University High softball team Tuesday night against defending state champion John Marshall.
But anytime you get beat 8-0, the best cure for that kind of pain is to get right back out there, and last night on Lynch Field at Mylan Park, the Hawks flipped the script with an aggressive game at the plate, in the field, on the base paths, and on the mound, as they rebounded with a solid 9-2 win over Wheeling Park.
“We wanted a complete reset, a different mindset out there,” UHS coach Mindy Parks explained. “We were aggressive at the plate, and really did a good job of picking good pitches to hit. And when you’re swinging the bats well, it can be contagious, like it was for us tonight.
Wheeling Park (6-10) led off the game with a single, but in a sign of the strong UHS defense to come, a sharp pickoff play from catcher Olivia Masoner to second baseman Kelsey Park caught the Patriots runner returning to first too late, and two strikeouts from Sophia Lehosit led to a quick half inning. In the bottom of the first, the Hawks’ hitters were on the attack early in the count, with plenty of success. Four hits (on nine total pitches) led to two runs and an early 2-0 advantage.
After Lehosit pitched her way out of a two-walk mini jam in the second, University (9-3) broke the game open in the bottom of the frame. Four straight singles all came around to score to provide the Hawks with a commanding 6-0 lead after two.
Wheeling Park scored a run in the third to make it 6-1, and another in the sixth to edge closer, but the Hawks’ bats got hot again in the sixth. With one out, Lexi Elza coaxed a walk, stole second, and raced home on Adalyn Brown’s RBI single. Brown then scored on Maddie Campbell’s second triple of the day, and she scored on Masoner’s single that made it 9-2.
Lehosit completed her win in the seventh, as she scattered six hits. 1-2-3 hitters Elza, Brown, and Campbell combined for seven runs and eight hits to pace the UHS offense.
“Defensively, I thought we played a very clean game,” Park said. “We were also happy with Sophia in the circle. She has a unique style, she puts a lot of spin on the ball, and that leads to a lot of pop-ups and weak contact. It was a good Senior Night win for us because we wanted to play well for our two seniors, Ally Jansen, our motivator, and Ashlyn Weaver, a good friend to every girl. Both of them have meant so much to our program, and we’re lucky to have them leading our team.”
The Hawks will travel to Parkersburg South on Friday and Steubenville (Oh.) on Saturday before coming back home to face city rival Morgantown on Monday at 5 p.m.
BY MARK SCHRAF
BOX SCORE
University 9, Wheeling Park 2
Wheeling Park 001 001 0 – 2
University 240 003 X – 9
WHEELING PARK (6-10) — Abbie Harmon lf 4 0 1 0; Kate Kozlowski cf 3 0 0 0; Faith Randolph ss 3 1 2 0; Delaney Randolph p 2 0 1 2; Bryn Ernest 3b 3 0 1 0; Haley Doyle 1b 3 0 0 0; Rylie Braunlich rf 2 0 1 0; Belle Thomas 2b 3 0 0 0; Sarah Seivertson c 2 1 0 0. Totals 25 2 6 2.
UNIVERSITY (9-3) — Lexi Elza lf 3 3 2 1; Adalyn Brown cf 4 2 3 3; Maddie Campbell ss 4 2 3 1; Olivia Masoner c 3 0 1 1; Sophia Lehosit p 4 0 1 1; Ally Jansen 1b 4 0 0 0; Bri Royce rf 3 0 1 0; Ashlyn Weaver 3b-2b 3 1 1 0; Kelsey Park 2b 2 1 1 0; Carley Voithofer ph-3b 1 0 0 0. Totals 31 9 13 7.
E — WP 4. DP – WP 2. LOB – WP 5 UHS 6.
2B – WP 1 (Ernest) UHS 1 (Elza).
3B – WP 1 (F. Randolph) UHS 2 (Campbell 2).
WP – D. Randolph (L) 6 ip 9 r 9 er 13 h 2 bb 1 so.
UHS – Lehosit (W) 7 ip 2 r 2 er 6 h 3 bb 3 so.
Trinity Christian 12, Valley 0
PINE GROVE — The Trinity Christian softball team won on the road 12-0 at Valley Wednesday afternoon. A seven-run bottom of the fourth brought the game to a mercy-rule end after five innings.
Jillian Conn led the team with three hits, a double, an RBI and scored two runs. Peyton Moore had two hits, a double, an RBI and two runs while Isabella Kelley had two hits and two RBI. Paige Hopkins hit a two-run home run. Hannah Titus, Marlo Flecker and Arlie Humphreys all drove in a run.
Hopkins did not allow a hit across five innings in the circle, striking out four and walking one.
The Warriors will play a doubleheader against Madonna on Saturday starting at noon.
GIRLS’ TENNIS
Morgantown 7, Linsly 0
MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown girls’ tennis team improved to 11-0 on the season with yet another sweep, this time 7-0 over Linsly on Wednesday.
Singles winners for the Mohigans were Maya Greenlee (8-1), Anika Chadha (8-3), Natalia Cassim (8-2) and Grace Forman (8-3). In doubles, Greenlee and Chadha won 9-2, Cassim and Forman won 8-0 and Tina Chen and Joyce Hu won 8-0.
MHS travels for a match at Parkersburg South today.
